Shedding more light on the Dark Figure

I will be giving a presentation based on the abstract below at the Crime Survey Users Meeting in London in December.

By the use of victimization survey methodology the British Crime Survey attempts to measure the numbers of different types crimes that have occurred to individuals and households. The statistics produced allow the percentage of crimes that were not reported to and recorded by the police to be assessed.


The presentation will discuss how the British Crime Survey could shed more light on this dark figure. The relevant section in “Crime in England and Wales 2009/10” is 2.5 Reporting Crime.

The discussion will include the following topics;

• Is the methodology for calculating the dark figure correct?
• Should the questions address why people report crime to the police not why they do not?
• Is the dark figure a measure of the level of confidence individuals, groups, communities has in the police and the criminal justice system?